So, Venture Capital investment slowed down in the first quarter of '08. Admittedly, part of the decline is due to seasonality (first quarter is usually slower), but it's also in line with the economic slowdown, which puts things in perspective.

According to the report (Thomson Reuters and PricewaterhouseCoopers), venture investments dropped 8.5 percent to $7.1 billion in the three months ending March 31 from the $7.8 billion invested in the previous quarter (which was actually the highest since 2002)

As expected, funding for early and late stage companies declined, though funding rose for expansion-stage companies. Interestingly, internet investments were up overall.

Summarizing, it looks like we have reached the peak of this cycle. But that doesn't mean that there is only doom and gloom ahead.